Rochester Hills has app to report on potholes

What's the most efficient — and tech-savvy — way for a city to manage complaints from its residents about potholes?

If you're the city of Rochester Hills, you build an app for that.

The city's app, which features a calendar of events, meeting agendas and trail maps, launched this week for Apple and Android devices. A "Report a Concern" icon allows users to snap a photo of a pothole (or other problem) and immediately send it to city headquarters. The photo is geo-tagged with the user's location.

Mayor Bryan Barnett unveiled the app at his annual State of the City address last week. The city spent about $5,000 on the app, designed by Manhattan, Kan.-based CivicPlus.

Matt Bach, director of media relations for the Michigan Municipal League, called the app "an innovative way to assist residents" and expects more cities to consider similar apps.